Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed | |
|---|---|
 Ahmed in 1976 | |
| 5th President of India | |
| In office 24 August 1974 – 11 February 1977 | |
| Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi |
| Vice President |
|
| Preceded by | V. V. Giri |
| Succeeded by | B. D. Jatti (acting) |
| Minister of Food and Agriculture | |
| In office 27 June 1970 – 3 July 1974 | |
| Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi |
| Preceded by | Jagjivan Ram[1] |
| Succeeded by | C. Subramaniam[2] |
| Minister of Industrial Development, Internal Trade and Company Affairs | |
| In office 13 March 1967 – 27 June 1970 | |
| Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi |
| Preceded by | Damodaram Sanjivayya |
| Succeeded by | Dinesh Singh[1] |
| Minister of Education | |
| In office 13 November 1966 – 12 March 1967 | |
| Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi |
| Preceded by | M. C. Chagla |
| Succeeded by | Triguna Sen |
| Minister of Irrigation and Power | |
| In office 29 January 1966 – 13 November 1966 | |
| Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi |
| Preceded by | K. L. Rao[3] |
| Succeeded by | K. L. Rao |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 3 April 1966 – 25 February 1967 | |
| Constituency | Assam |
| In office 3 April 1954 – 25 March 1957 | |
| Constituency | Assam |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 1967–1974 | |
| Preceded by | Renuka Devi Barkataki |
| Succeeded by | Ismail Hossain Khan |
| Constituency | Barpeta, Assam |
| Member of the Assam Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 1937–1946 | |
| Prime Minister | Muhammed Saadulah |
| Succeeded by | Moulvi Abdul Hai |
| Constituency | Kamrup (North) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 May 1905 Delhi, British India (present-day India) |
| Died | 11 February 1977 (aged 71) New Delhi, Delhi, India |
| Political party | Indian National Congress |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | |
| Profession |
|
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (13 May 1905 – 11 February 1977) was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of India from 1974 to 1977.
Born in Delhi, Ahmed studied in Delhi and Cambridge and was called to the bar from the Inner Temple, London in 1928. Returning to India, he practiced law in Lahore and then in Guwahati. Beginning a long association with the Indian National Congress in the 1930s, Ahmed was finance minister of Assam in the Gopinath Bordoloi ministry in 1939. He became the Advocate General of Assam in 1946, and was finance minister again from 1957 to 1966 under Bimala Prasad Chaliha. He was made a national cabinet minister by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1966 and was in charge of various ministries including Power, Irrigation, Industries and Agriculture. He was elected president of India over Tridib Chaudhuri in 1974.
As president, Ahmed imposed The Emergency in August 1975 and gave his assent to numerous ordinances and constitutional amendments that severely restricted civil liberties and allowed Indira Gandhi to rule by decree. He supported the Emergency in public speeches. Lampooned in an iconic cartoon by Abu Abraham, Ahmed's reputation was tarnished by his support for the Emergency. He has been described as a rubber stamp president.
Ahmed died in February 1977 of a heart attack. He was accorded a state funeral and is buried in a masjid near Parliament House in New Delhi. Ahmed, who was the second Muslim to become the president of India, was also the second president to die in office. Ahmed was succeeded by B. D. Jatti as acting president and by Neelam Sanjiva Reddy as the sixth president of India in 1977.
- ^ a b "No.55/1/1/70-CF dated 28 June 1970" (PDF). New Delhi: Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:6was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "55/4/CF-66 dated 11 January 1966" (PDF). New Delhi: Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.